NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Thirty-two national television appearances and a 16-game league slate highlight the 2013-14 Atlantic 10 Conference Women’s Basketball Schedule released by the league office on Thursday.

The league’s 13 teams will play a 16 game A-10 schedule, consisting of eight home games and eight away games. The schedule allows teams to face each conference opponent once and four teams twice.

“Through our three A-10 media partners, ESPN, CBS Sports Network and NBCSN, we have an extended television platform for some of our most storied A-10 rivalries and nationally competitive programs,” said Wendy S. Larry, Atlantic 10 Associate Commissioner. “Our women’s basketball schedule will be highlighted by some of our best matchups and culminate with our Championship at the Richmond Coliseum."

ESPN Networks will feature three women's games; two regular season contests and the 2014 A-10 Championship game from the Richmond Coliseum on March 9. ESPN will air the A-10 championship finale for the 17th straight year. CBS Sports Network will televise an additional 10 games; eight during the regular season and the two semifinal outings at the Atlantic 10 Championship on March 8th. The A-10’s newest media partner NBCSN will show three league contests in the month of January.

The three media partners combine for over 200 million total subscribers nationwide. Atlantic 10 institutions reside in markets that comprise of 32 million television viewers, 28 percent of the total national market. There are seven A-10 institutions in the top 25 media markets in the country.

The A-10 slate will ring in the New Year with six games to start off 2014. The opening days are highlighted by a pair contests on CBSSN featuring St. Bonaventure at Duquesne and Saint Louis traveling to Fordham. On Jan. 2, the A-10’s newest member George Mason will make its league debut when it travels to nearby George Washington. Also on the schedule for Jan. 2, La Salle will travel to Rhode Island, Massachusetts heads to VCU, while Richmond will play host to defending league champion Saint Joseph’s.

Thursday’s schedule release comes on the heels of the A-10’s announcement that it has entered a three-year partnership with the City of Richmond to bring the A-10 Women’s Basketball Championship to the Richmond Coliseum beginning this season.

All 13 teams will take part in the championship which will take place March 5-9. The championship will open with a play-in game on Wednesday, March 5, followed by four first-round games on Thursday. The four quarterfinal games will tip-off Friday afternoon. Game times for both Thursday and Friday are Noon, 2:30 p.m., 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Two semifinal games will be held on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and will air live on CBSSN, with the finals tipping off at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday live on ESPNU.

Dayton and Saint Joseph’s represented the Atlantic 10 in the 2013 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament. Dayton defeated St. John’s in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament. The 96-90 win was the first double overtime game in the NCAA tournament since 2000.

Five A-10 teams were also selected to take part in the 2013 WNIT. At the conclusion of the season, the A-10 ranked ninth out of 32 conferences in the final RPI rankings. Dayton paced the league, coming in 17th among the nation’s top teams, while four additional teams are ranked among the top 100.